Parliament will today, Wednesday further discuss The Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2023, which seeks to among others amend the minimum age of consumption, and time allowed for sale of alcoholic drinks in Uganda.
Tabled by Hon Sarah Opendi (Mp, Tororo Municipality), the bill proposes to have a jail term of 3years imposed on anyone who sells alcoholic drinks to persons below a certain age, or pay a fine of Shs40M.
Hon. Opendi proposed to have alcohol sold between 5Pm to 10Pm on weekdays and 12:00 Noon to 12:00 Midnight on weekends and public holidays.
In their submission on the Bill earlier, The Ministry of Health proposed having the minimum age, for people allowed to drink alcohol in Uganda raised from 18 to 21 years.
The Ministry stated that at 18 years, one’s brain is still developing and thus, shouldn’t be allowed to make a life altering decision like taking alcohol.
Additionally, Dr Joseph Serwadda, the presiding apostle of the Born Again Faith in Uganda and co-chair of the IRCU, proposed for the alcohol sale ban to be extended to “people who are already intoxicated and pregnant women, instead of limiting it to only officers in uniform.”
“Clause 20 of the bill restricts the sale of alcohol to law enforcement officers in uniform, however, the Council is of the opinion that alcohol sell should be restricted to non-uniformed officers, armed personnel, pregnant women, civil servants, already intoxicated persons, and children beyond 21years. There is need to penalize the buyers too. There may be need to require any form of identification before sell of alcohol to a person,” said Dr Serwadda.
Uganda Manufacturers Association(UMA) and Uganda Comedians Association however cautioned legislators saying enacting the proposed Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill, 2023 in its current form will likely “crash Uganda’s economy.”
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